knowledge age
On my numerous flights up and down the country I have had the pleasure of sitting next to a range of interesting characters, and as someone with a very low boredom threshold I generally start a conversation to make the time…fly. The questions invariably lead to what you do for a crust, and as soon as a say I am engaged in trend forecasting I tend to get this question, “Oh, so what’s cool right now?” With a straight face I reply with “Black”.
That basically is what I deal with on a regular basis, changing the perception of what a trend is and how to extract value from it. What I would like to achieve with this blog is to give those people out there who are interested in trends a couple of tools to ask the right questions – which is the first step in getting value from trends.
Today we will start with definitions. One of the most common misconceptions about trends is that they are confused with fads. Exhibit one: “Neon is so hot right now”, “Skinny jeans are the shiz”. These are not trends, these are fads.
What we have here is my quick reference guide to distinguish fads from trends from futureology:
- Fads – short seasonal occurrences which generally have a limited shelf life and low impact – think crazy frog
- Trends – longer term pervasive trends which have broader implications on people and how they live – think green consciousness
- Futureology – a study of current trends extrapolated to future based assumptions – think genome therapy and space travel
Keep these in mind, and next time someone asks what’s cool right now, say lumo green.
Read more posts by Guest
Related posts:
